When You Least Expect It
by lips of pink
Summary: It's been a year since Klaus was killed and Elena was brought back to life. Elena wants to get her life back to normal, and hatches a plan to resume her life in Fell's church, sort of. But bad things always happen in Fell's Church.
1. Homecoming

**I had this idea in my head, and I just had to write it. There's not too much action in this chapter, but expect a lot more soon. I'm going to be cranking this one out along with my other stories, but I'll try to give you a chapter every two weeks, probably sooner than that since summer session doesn't start until June 9. Hope you enjoy it so far, please review if you have any constructive criticism.**

"I'm not quite sure what to do."

A blonde girl was leaning negligently across the balcony railing looking down on the canals of Venice. She was dressed in a man's dress shirt and very little else. A lean dark-haired man dressed in nothing but jeans came over and wrapped his arms around her, resting his chin on top of her silky hair.

"What do you mean?" he asked, the tone in his voice showing a slight impatience.

She turned around and pecked him on the lips. "Oh, Stefan, I know I keep saying this, and I can never explain it very well. But I love you for putting up with me."

Stefan gave her a half-smile and ran his hand through his hair, rumpling it even more. "As if there were any real choice."

Elena tilted her head to the side, her dark blue eyes meeting his green ones and then she sighed, "I don't exist anymore. Officially I'm dead and buried in a graveyard in Virginia. I can't even finish school or get a job. I'm lucky you can at least take care of me, but I want to do something!"

He studied her for a moment before answering, "And you miss your home."

"And I miss my home," she said, bowing her head.

Stefan brushed back the silken curtain of hair and tilted her head up. "We can go home. I can make everyone forget, it's been a year, and you know Damon has some rather unsavory connections in the ID business."

"Damon has some rather unsavory connections in every business," Elena said wryly with a smile to match.

"And you've started to lose your accent and pick up a more European sound."

"_Grazie."_

He rolled his eyes at her mangled Italian and said, "We could pass you off as a foreign exchange student. You could live with Bonnie and finish your senior year off. It wouldn't be that bad."

She thought for a moment, chewing on her lower lip before nodding. "Then with my new ID and my new diploma then I could do something useful with my life." She kissed him quickly then said, "Not that I don't lounging around in your arms all day." She gave him a gentle shove on his bare shoulder. "Now go get dressed! You're giving all the American tourists a thrill."

"You're in my shirt," he said, with a laugh and scooping her up in his arms.

"Then I guess you're just going to have to get me out of it, won't you," she said, looking up at him from beneath her lashes.

He didn't answer he just kissed her as he carried her inside and then dumped her on the bed as she squealed.

/

That had been a week ago; Elena was now nervously standing outside her old high school. She'd had a joyful reunion with Bonnie and Meredith, but now it was time to get on with her life.

Stefan had already used his Powers to get her registered for classes, and thanks to Damon's underworld friends, she now had the identification of an Italian foreign exchange student. Stefan was again passing as a new student, and he could take care of anyone who recognized him before, but she had to be different enough that she could convince everyone she just happened to look like a dead girl.

She sighed as she walked to the doors, glancing over her shoulder at where a group of seniors – guys and girls – were staring at her and she was reminded of her old group. Her and Caroline always fighting for the throne of the school.

Elena ignored the curious looks and headed inside and went straight to the office where she showed her ID and received her schedule in return. Her first class was Latin, and she wasn't anymore thrilled about it now.

She was only a few minutes late and she opened the door to the classroom hoping to be able to sneak in quietly beside Stefan who was already seated, but the teacher looked up and did a double take when he saw her, but his face went blank after a moment. The recognition that had been in his eyes before disappeared – Stefan must have already taken care of it.

She slid into an empty seat beside him and smiled gratefully at him, just as the girl next to her tossed a folded piece of paper on her desk. Raising an eyebrow she unfolded it.

_Who are you?_

Elena glanced around to see if anyone would claim credit for the note, but no one did. So she crumbled it up and gave her attention to the teacher.

/

Stefan loved Elena. A lot. That was the only reason that he would put himself back through the hell of high school and all of the humans and their thoughts crowding into his mind. But he could, as always, sense her burning brighter than the rest – and she seemed happy.

It was lunchtime, and he found himself heading outside and sitting under a tree and surveying the students as they milled around. He was lost in thought which allowed someone to come up on him unnoticed.

"Hey," a female figure said, dropping down next to him.

He glanced over at the girl, she had straight dark hair and clear green eyes, and she was smiling at him, as if trying to entice him. He didn't say anything, just nodded. But that didn't put her off.

"You're new, and so I figured you wouldn't know too many people, so I wanted to come over and introduce myself," she said, tossing her hair over her shoulder. "I'm Melissa."

Stefan's ingrained manners wouldn't let him completely ignore her when she was talking directly to him so he answered her briefly, "Stefan."

Melissa took his introduction as an invitation to make herself comfortable, so she started rattling away talking to him, and he tuned her out somewhat, trying to sense Elena.

"So listen, a bunch of us are getting together after school at this diner down the road, you want to come?" she asked, looking at him hopefully.

He absentmindedly agreed, just as Elena walked up, and smiled at him.

"This is cozy," she said, flashing the smile on the new girl who stood up quickly and gave her a haughty look.

"It was, so why don't you go someplace else, while we finish talking?" Melissa had apparently staked her claim on Stefan, who in his obliviousness hadn't done anything to dissuade her of the idea.

Elena laughed and dropped down next to Stefan, who gave her a grateful smile as she grabbed his hand and squeezed. "Oh but then I can't hear you hitting on Stefan from over there."

"I see," Melissa said coolly. "I guess I'll be leaving."

"Guess so," Elena said, turning her attention to Stefan, laying her head on his shoulder and watching the girl walk off in a huff.

"Well that wasn't very nice," Stefan commented mildly, pressing a kiss to her temple.

"When have you known me to be very nice?" was her dry reply.

Elena and Stefan watched as two girls walk up to them. The shorter of the two reminded her of Meredith, she seemed very calm and composed and very cool. The taller girl was bubbly and full of energy. Without asking they sat down in front of them.

"I saw Melissa walk off from here and she seemed upset," the shorter girl said, tossing blonde hair over her shoulder.

"She found out something she didn't want to know," was Elena's cool reply.

Both of the girls laughed at that, and the taller girl said, "Thank God someone finally gave her what she had coming to her. I'm Liz by the way. And this is Brandy. We just came over here out of curiousity really, because of the Melissa thing, but also because you're new."

Elena smiled, she liked the girls already, they reminded her of Bonnie and Meredith and she introduced herself and Stefan. "We're from Venice," she said. "Student exchange."

"Then it looks like you're going to need tour guides. Come on school's almost out, let's blow off the rest of classes and hit the town," Liz said, standing up and grabbing at Elena's hands.

"Why not?" Elena asked with a laugh. "What could go wrong?"


	2. Pasts Collide

**Sorry it took forever guys. Expect updates a lot quicker now. Thanks to my reviewers that have harassed me to put out a new chapter. I'll give you chapter three really soon.** Elena sighed entwining her hand through Stefan's and leaning her head on his shoulder

Elena sighed entwining her hand through Stefan's and leaning her head on his shoulder. It felt good to be back in Fell's Church, and hanging out with Liz and Brandy, the two were so much like Bonnie and Meredith.

The group had parted ways a little over half an hour ago, the girls having homework, but Elena and Stefan kept walking, both silent as Elena was lost in thought.

Across the street, unbeknownst to either of them, a thin older woman had stopped abruptly and dropped her bags. A dark-haired man, cupped her elbow, trying to get her attention when she collapsed backwards in his arms. The commotion across the street finally caught their attention and Elena swore.

"That's Robert and Aunt Judith," she said softly. "We need to leave." But before she could finish her sentence, Stefan was already pulling her back into the shadows, and she could practically feel his mind reaching out, trying to smooth away the memories. And she did feel when he gave a shudder.

"I'm too burnt out," he said. "I can't."

"Then let's get you to the woods." She grabbed his hand and tugged lightly and the two headed for the woods near the boarding house, staying in the shadows the entire way there.

/

Liz was sprawled across her bed, her legs dangling and kicking in time to the music on her music player. She was oblivious to the world, so she jumped when she felt a hand on her shoulder.

Her mom was leaning over and saying something, not quite understand her daughter had headphones in. "Hold up," she said removing them. "Now what?"

"Judith Maxwell had another one of her episodes again," her mother said. "I'm going to go over and check on her."

"Episodes?" Liz asked, her brow furrowed in confusion.

"After her niece died she kept hallucinating that she saw her. This time she said she saw her downtown. I'll only be gone an hour. Want to come and keep an eye on Margaret?"

Liz shrugged and scooped up her mp3 player and put it in her pocket. "Why not? The kid's cute."

The Maxwells lived across the street from the house that Liz's family moved into, and the two families had become close in the nine months that the Millers had been in Fell's Church. Liz's mom knocked on the door and then stepped into the house, heading for the living room. Liz headed straight up the stairs for Margaret's room, but the tow-headed girl wasn't in her room, instead there was a light coming from under the door of the room at the end of the hall.

"Margaret?" Liz asked, as she tapped quietly on the door. She opened the door and the girl was curled up on the bed, wrapped up in a red silk kimono. She had tearstains on her cheeks and she was almost asleep. Liz sat down next to her and smoothed her hair back from her head.

"She said she was watching over me, and she hasn't been," the girl whispered softly. Liz didn't say anything, just kept stroking the girl as she looked around the room. From what she understood the Gilbert girl had been dead a year, but the room looked ready for her to come home at any moment. _Mrs. Maxwell probably still comes in and dusts. I never knew she wasn't dealing._

There were pictures around the room, she recognized shots of Matt Honeycutt who'd gone off to school on a football scholarship. Meredith Sulez who'd married one of the teachers right after graduation, and the red-head with the curls was Bonnie, who lived next door to Brandy.

Around the mirror there were more photos tucked into the frame. One of Matt and a blonde, who must have been the Gilbert girl. She stood up to get a closer look, the girl bore a striking resemblance to Elena. She took the picture and slipped it into her pocket to show it to Brandy.

Liz turned back to the bed and picked Margaret up and, after she untangled her from the kimono, took her to her room and tucked her into bed.

She skipped down the stairs to find Mr. and Mrs. Maxwell sitting on the couch and her mom in a chair across from them, having convinced her that she was seeing things.

Liz smiled at them and kissed her mom on the cheek. "I'm going to head back home, Margaret's in bed though. Good night, Mr. and Mrs. Maxwell."

It was dark outside, and the street light had burnt out again, so she looked around carefully before crossing the street. As she got to her door she turned around to look at the house. She swore she caught a flash of blonde outside the window, but when she looked closer, it was gone. Shrugging she turned and headed inside.

/

When Elena and Stefan got back from the woods, Stefan flopped across the bed, throwing an arm over his eyes. Elena crawled in next to him and cuddled up to him, placing her head on his chest, listening to the thumping of his heart.

"I love you," she said, so softly anyone else wouldn't have heard.

"I know," he said, leaning over and pressing a hard kiss to her head. She could feel his smile and she reached over and pulled the blanket over them as he leaned over and turned out the light.

When Elena woke the next morning, Stefan was already up and dressed and had breakfast waiting for her. She gave him a sleepy smile and picked up a piece of toast as she turned the TV on.

The local news was on and in the middle of talking about some crime. Elena wasn't really paying attention until the high school was mentioned and the body that was found in the chem lab.

"Oh, no not again," she groaned, turning the volume up so she could hear better. Stefan sat down on the edge of the bed and she said, "So who from your past hates me now?"


End file.
